Reunions and first meetings
by Ellie Enchanted
Summary: Kaoru has been living a calm, happy life since her small family split up four years ago. Sure, the new pack in town is worrying, but overall, she's fine. Until her beloved pack shows up, hunted and afraid. Now, Kaoru must protect her own - which is REALLY HARD when there are more things going on than she's aware of. Wolf AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, this is Ellie Enchanted, and I just wanted to give credit to Ravyn, who writes the best AUs I've ever read, and whose story White Shadows inspired this one! Go check it out!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin**

Kaoru had been having a nice night before the knock on the door. She had been sitting on her couch sipping hot cocoa with a book and a blanket over her legs. She was warm, happy, and she had been for a run the night before, so her wolf wasn't being too pushy. And then the knocking came.

No one should know where her house was except for Tae and Tsubame, and they would have called before coming over. Or it could be another wolf, in which case the knocking was bad news. The new pack in town hadn't noticed her yet, but they were bound to eventually. And it was dangerous to be noticed by an already established pack, even though she did have prior claim to the territory.

Kaoru's bare feet padded silently across the dark wooden floors, worn smooth from years of walking and polished until they shone. The slight girl approached the door warily, still clad in pajamas, hair pulled into a messy ponytail. A pale hand slowly extended and the door unlocked with a click. Her door was always locked. She whipped the door open, expecting an attack, but not a blur of black and red slamming into her. Kaoru tensed, but then she caught a whiff of the blur's scent, mud and pine trees and a hint of warm fur. A scent that she hadn't smelled in four years.

"Misao?" The tiny girl squeezed her even tighter, squealing.

"OhmygoshKaoruIjustmissedyousomuch!"

As the petite teenager finally released the older girl, another woman appeared in the doorway. To Kaoru, that delicate face and sharp, herbal scent were unmistakable. Mixed with Misao's woodsy smell and Kaoru's incongruous scent of sweat, wood, and flowers, the room became filled with that perfect odor that evoked a sense of safety in the girl's heart. This was the smell of family, of comfort, of home! This was the smell of pack, which Kaoru hadn't had in so long, and had craved so badly. Her sisters were home at last, and her wolf was practically howling in delight.

"Misao, Megumi, what are you doing here? Oh, did you find your old packs? How have you been, it's been so long, come in, sit down!" Kaoru was fully aware that she was babbling, but she didn't care. She didn't want to stop and think about the reasons behind their sudden appearance here. She didn't want to let go of this momentary perfection where her small family, which she had never expected to see again, was together.

But Kaoru knew, deep down, that there was something wrong. The last time she had seen her friends, they were both headed off to find their original packs, which had been split up when they were very young. The two had been headed for completely different places, and had both invited her to come with them, but she couldn't bring herself to choose between them or to impose on their happy reunion with their families. So she had headed to a tiny town where she could disappear and build a life. She had even met a hedge witch called Tae and her apprentice, Tsubame. And now, Megumi and Misao had shown up together, when they shouldn't have even been able to find her.

"Kaoru." Megumi's voice was serious, and touched with sadness, and Kaoru knew that her happy fantasy was about to be cut short. "We need help. I didn't know who else to go to."

Kaoru nodded, once more gesturing to the couch. "I'll make tea. Please, sit down." A few minutes later, all three females were seated in Kaoru's cozy living room, cupping hot mugs of chamomile tea. No one actually took a sip, a mixture of nerves, awkwardness, and fear of anything supposedly edible that Kaoru had made. Finally, she broke the silence. "First, before you explain why you're here, I need to know how you found me. Not that I'm not happy to see you, but this is important."

"Of course. We never actually found our old packs, or joined any others, so we were still able to invoke pack magic. The fact that there were two of us, and that you were our alpha, made it easier to find you."

Kaoru was shocked. "Pack magic? But I thought we broke our pack bonds when we split!"

Megumi shook her head, a sad and slightly amused smile on her face. "The only way to truly break pack bonds is to join a different pack. Like I said, we never did." She took a small sip of tea, made a face, and set the cup down on the coffee table.

Not one to be quiet or ignored for long, Misao piped up. "Don't you want to know why we're here, Kaoru?" The older girl smirked, amused by her friend's impatience.

"Yes, I was just about to get to that. I assume you ran into some trouble?" Megumi's face dropped, morphing into a tired, guilty look.

"More than that. I was tracking my pack, following rumors about where they had been, and eventually I came to a town that an old member was staying in. He was working as a doctor for a fae man named Kanryuu. That should have been my first tip off that something was wrong. Fae are not always bad, but they're never trustworthy. The doctor said that he had been left behind because of an injury that needed time to heal, and that he didn't know where my family was, but they were going to contact him when they found a safe place to wait so he could catch up. That was also wrong. My pack would never have left anyone behind, and they could have healed any injuries, even ones that would normally take time. But I wanted so badly to believe him. He asked if I could be his medical assistant while we waited for the message to arrive, and I said yes. Of course I did." Megumi paused for a moment, and Kaoru nodded supportively. The eldest of the three had never passed up the chance to help heal someone. It was against her most basic morals. "When there was no one to heal, he would have me make medicine. Or he said it was medicine. They told me I was making painkillers. All the medicines derived from poppy smell the same... I couldn't even tell the difference between morphine and opium!" The woman let out a sob, tears beginning to leak down her face.

Misao, seeing that her older friend would not be able to continue, took over. "At about the same time Meg realized what was going on, I arrived in town. My pack also stopped there at some point. I think they may have been in a similar situation to hers, and left when they realized what was going on. So did we. But we aren't a group of five highly skilled fighters, and Meg knew too much. She was also the only one other than the doc who knew how to make the special kind of opium they were selling. So they sent people after us. We think we have at least a week's lead on them, but it's hard to tell. We went to the only person we knew who could help. You."

Kaoru took a moment to soak in the information. Then she gave her crying best friend a huge hug. "I know some people in town who might be able to help. You're both welcome to stay as long as you need. Forever, if you want. I only have the one guest room, so you'll have to share. I hope that's okay. Don't worry, we'll get through this."

Megumi looked up in surprise, tears slowly trickling to a stop. "You aren't angry? You don't blame me for pulling you into my mess, or for making drugs?"

Kaoru smiled brightly at her almost-sisters. "You two are pack. I'll love you and help you no matter what. And… I missed you. Even though the circumstances aren't ideal, I'm very happy to see you again." Then a thought hit her. "Oh no." The other two girls stared at her, worried. "I'm going to have to contact _them_." Seeing her friends' faces, the slim girl elaborated. "There's a new pack in town. They've only been around for a few months, and I've been able to hide my presence so far. But their pack could be threatened by this, so I'm going to have to call a meeting. Ugh. I'm pretty sure they'll help us since they're in danger too, but… I really didn't want to have to be found so soon. Oh well. I guess I can call Tae tomorrow and then set up a meeting after lunch."

Megumi's eyes flashed and a single eyebrow rose gracefully. Now that her best friend and alpha had heard her story and accepted it, reassured her even, the foxlike woman was rapidly returning to her normal personality. "Who is Tae?"

"A powerful hedge witch who runs a popular restaurant and the local gossip mill. You'll either love her or hate her." Just then, Misao let out an almighty yawn, and Kaoru realized that the sixteen year old had been running with very few breaks for the past week at least. Her disheveled state showed that she had been running all day. Even Megumi, who was displaying her extremely annoying ability to look perfect in any situation, had bags under her eyes, a testament to just how weary she must have been. "Okay. Unless there is any more information I need, we should all go to bed. The guest room is the second door on the left, just up those stairs. I'll wake you before the meeting." Misao nodded enthusiastically and darted up the stairs. Megumi trailed after her more slowly.

"You had better get to bed too, Kaoru. Tomorrow is going to be a very long day."

As the woman disappeared upstairs, Kaoru frowned. _Don't I know it._


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.**

Kenshin had been having a nice day before the phone call. He was cooking a late breakfast for his pack, having already been up for hours going through his morning routine, which was always relaxing. When his cell rang, he heard Sano shout from the other room, "I'll get it!" moments later, and his disheveled, sleepy friend handed the phone to him, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Hello?"

"Hello. You are Himura Kenshin?" The redhead stiffened, causing Sano to go on alert as well. The voice was unfamiliar, and yet they knew his name, and had his number, which he never gave to anyone he didn't know well.

"Who are you? How did you get this number?" His voice came out cold and crisp, allowing a bit of the alpha in him to seep through. The female on the other end was not impressed, or fazed. Her speech stayed level, cool, and mostly neutral, though a small amount of her disdain for his intimidation tactic showed. Above all, there was a distinct feeling of authority and confidence lacing her tone.

"My name is Kamiya Kaoru. I have been living in this town for three years, and have been attempting to avoid conflict with your pack. However, several of my old pack members have recently come to seek me out. They are in danger, and I thought I should warn you, since your proximity to us puts you all in danger as well. As for your number, I received it from Tae-san. I wish to set up a meeting after lunch to discuss the possible threat. Drive north out of town until you come on the road with two pine trees at the intersection. My home is at the end of the lane, closest to the woods. I will expect you no earlier than one, and no later than three. Goodbye." There was a short CLICK, and the line went silent.

"Whoo, boy," Whistled Sano, who had heard the whole conversation through advanced hearing. "That is one interesting lady. She didn't even react to the dominance you were leaking. And did you hear? She said she was here before us, and we really should have picked that up." He smirked. "Hey, think she's your type? You could totally –"

"Sanosuke." Kenshin frowned at his beta. "There is a possible threat to the pack. I really don't think my love life is the most important issue right now." The violet eyes narrowed a little more. "Or even at all."

The taller man smirked. "Your love life is always important, old man. Seriously, we need to get you a lady alpha!" As he spoke, the rest of the pack arrived down the stairs.

Near-silent feet padded into the room, followed by the bouncing gait of a child. The younger of the two new arrivals piped up. "Sano's right. You are getting pretty old, Kenshin. But I don't think you need a girlfriend. Girls are either gross or scary."

"You won't always feel that way, Yahiko," Kenshin laughed, patting the boy's head and exchanging a nod with Aoshi. "And I'm not old. I may be the oldest in the room, but that does not make me old."

"Meh. From my point of view, you're pretty much ancient. What's for breakfast?" The youngest of their small family wandered over to the counter and tried to sneak a piece of bacon from the plate on the table. Kenshin slapped his hand away, and frowned disapprovingly at Sano, who still held a smug grin on his face.

"See, the munchkin agrees with me. _And_ , we don't have any girls in the pack. At all. Isn't that weird?" Even Kenshin did have to admit it as a little weird. But still completely irrelevant. _Especially_ to his love life.

"So what was the call about? I could hear the phone ringing all the way upstairs!" Yahiko took a seat at the table, swinging his feet as Sano set down a plate of pancakes and a jug of syrup. Kenshin pulled the juice out of the refrigerator and sat down, sighing heavily.

"There's another pack in town. A lone wolf who has been here longer than we have just received two of her old pack, and she suspects there may be dangerous people coming after them. She wants to meet today." Aoshi turned his cool gaze on the Alpha.

"What is our response?"

Kenshin shrugged. "Well, I suppose we're going to meet her. We don't have enough information to do anything else. Sanosuke, Yahiko, you two will accompany me to Kamiya's home. We will hear her out. But stay on your guard, not all packs are friendly, and we will be in her territory."

The pack nodded, and then went back to breakfast. After all, there wasn't much else to say.


End file.
